Page:Odes and Carmen Saeculare.djvu/170



F battles fought I fain had told, And conquer'd towns, when Phœbus smote His harp-string: "Sooth, 'twere over-bold To tempt wide seas in that frail boat." Thy age, great Cæsar, has restored To squalid fields the plenteous grain. Given back to Rome's almighty Lord Our standards, torn from Parthian fane, Has closed Quirinian Janus' gate, Wild passion's erring walk controll'd, Heal'd the foul plague-spot of the state, And brought again the life of old, Life, by whose healthful power increased The glorious name of Latium spread To where the sun illumes the east From where he seeks his western bed. While Caesar rules, no civil strife Shall break our rest, nor violence rude, Nor rage, that whets the slaughtering knife And plunges wretched towns in feud. The sons of Danube shall not scorn The Julian edicts; no, nor they By Tanais' distant river born, Nor Persia, Scythia, or Cathay.